as in partial
inclined to favor one side over another
a shamelessly partisan reporter covering the primary campaign
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also partizan
1
as in adherent
one who follows the opinions or teachings of another
partisans of the charismatic leader refuse to tolerate any criticism of him at all
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in militant
one who is intensely or excessively devoted to a cause
a partisan of the revolution who was even willing to give her life for it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in sectarian
one who stubbornly or intolerantly adheres to his or her own opinions and prejudices
she's too much of a political partisan to ever concede that the other side might have a valid point
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of partisan
Sydney Topf, The Washington Examiner, 14 Apr. 2026
No Republican senators have signed onto the resolution, highlighting the partisan divide over the issue.
—Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2026
Like most of the foreign intelligentsia, such as Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and the New York Times correspondent Herbert Matthews, all of whom had come to Madrid to cover the war, Martha arrived in Spain a passionate partisan.
—Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for partisan
Adjective
Lawmakers used their speeches to condemn growing antisemitism in the country and honor a Nuremberg trials prosecutor with the Congressional Gold Medal, avoiding partisan finger-pointing.
—Sydney Topf, The Washington Examiner, 14 Apr. 2026
No Republican senators have signed onto the resolution, highlighting the partisan divide over the issue.
—Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
Noun
Millions of Democrats in Texas, Republicans in California and partisans in other states have been effectively disenfranchised, their voices rendered mute.
—Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2026
Like most of the foreign intelligentsia, such as Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and the New York Times correspondent Herbert Matthews, all of whom had come to Madrid to cover the war, Martha arrived in Spain a passionate partisan.
—Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for partisan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for partisan
Adjective
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While solar eclipses, partial and total, have been captured on film, physical and digital, many times, these videos include the application of a solar filter on top of the camera’s lens.—
Mia Galuppo,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Apr. 2026
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The caucus also would deliver another $82 million in annual relief by creating a new exemption for tips earnings and expanding the state’s partial tax exemption on Social Security income to a full exclusion.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Buddhists often celebrate Vesak with processions, by visiting temples, meditating and through acts of fasting, while adherents in India may immerse themselves in the river Ganga to wash away their sins.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The restrictions subdued Lent, Passover and Ramadan celebrations for many in some of the holiest sites for adherents of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.—
Sam Mednick,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Pakistan’s polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 Apr. 2026
-
The son of the English-language spokeswoman for the Iranian militants involved in the 1979 storming of the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, is set to face deportation from the US, along with his wife and son, the State Department announced today.—
Dalia Abdelwahab,
CNN Money,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The Iraqi prime minister at the time, Nuri al-Maliki, was a Shiite sectarian with close ties to Iran, and many of his fellow Shia thought he could be relied on to listen to Iran’s wishes and find a way to avoid clashing with an Iranian proxy militia.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Both sides insist the other initiated the initial volley of gunfire that killed four agents and six sectarians.—
Joshua Alston,
Variety,
12 Apr. 2023
Adjective
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Our city workers have consistently risen above the vitriol and accusations of hostile political leaders to do the jobs that our residents expect.—
Venus Molina,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
-
While Kirk may have received hostile or threatening messages, including on social media, those were not part of any identified or actionable threat stream monitored by federal authorities, the person told Sganga.—
Nicole Sganga,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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But the administration is ratcheting up its attacks on the very environmental protections that MAHA followers hold dear.—
Stephanie Armour,
CBS News,
13 Apr. 2026
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They are also filled with apocalyptic premonitions that make sense only in a first-century context, when Jesus was credibly thought by his followers to soon be on his way back home, ready to take believers up to Heaven, or the moon, with him.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Over one year after the death of her fellow anti-Scientology crusader, ex-church official, and Emmy-winning Scientology and the Aftermath collaborator Mike Rinder, actress and former Scientologist Leah Remini has opened up about the pain of living life without her longtime friend.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Apr. 2026
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Among other things, the New York Times story portrayed Lively as Hollywood’s latest #MeToo crusader, courageously exposing workplace abuses against women.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Nossiter said Guinea is also sensitive to the possibility that the pilots’ case could get amplified publicly by anti-Western nationalists in the country who might frame it as a sovereignty violation at a moment when Conakry is already wary of internal dissent.—
Adrian Elimian,
semafor.com,
13 Apr. 2026
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The Treaty of Trianon looms large in the imagination of Hungarian nationalists.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
12 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Partisan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/partisan. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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